Thursday
Weather
A lovely sunny day, with only a brief chance of a shower around breakfast-time. Don’t let this put you off commuting by bike or on foot, because it will be over in a jiffy and the rest of the day is looking lovely. Wind moderate SSW’ly, strengthening to a strong S’ly overnight. Daytime max temp 12°C, night-time min 9°C.
Surf and the Water
Smaller waves than the last few days, so it’s doubtful that it will be surfable at all on the north coast. However, the waves will still be about 4 feet and pretty clean on the west coast. The tides are starting to shrink, so the morning rush-hour won’t be quite so splashy as on previous days. High water will be about 9.4m at 8:10am and the low will be about 1.4m at 2:40pm.
Friday
Weather
Well, just as Thursday looks like a carbon-copy of sunny Tuesday, Friday looks like a carbon copy of wet and windy Wednesday. Strong force 6 to 7 S’ly winds and grey skies throughout. The rain, light and patchy for the most part, but perhaps some heavier bursts in the morning and then again overnight.
Surf and the Water
Same size surf as on Thursday but it will be a bit more of a battle to paddle against the stronger and more directly offshore wind. Although the tides will continue to shrink, the severity of the wind does mean that the east-coast road will suffer some pretty big splashes during the morning rush-hour. High water will be about 9.1m at 8:50am and the low will be about 1.8m at 3:20pm.
The Weekend
Weather
Sunshine on showers on both days, but it certainly looks as though Saturday will have the roughest trot, with force 5-6 SSW’ly winds and the showers heavy enough to turn thundery. Sunday’s showers will be fewer and further between and they certainly won’t have such a sting, as the wind will only be a force 4 WSW’ly. The temperature will generally reach 11-12°C during the afternoons, then drop off to about 9°C during the nights.
Surf and the Water
The tidal range will continue to reduce in size, with the highs moving to the mid-mornings and the lows to the late afternoons. However, the surf will pick right up, with clean 8-10 foot waves on Saturday. Sunday’s swell will be a bit choppier on the west coast, but it will still be decidedly chunky, possibly big enough to produce some rideable north-coast waves.
Next Week
Weather
At this early stage, it is pointless to try giving lots of detail, because it is bound to change from one update to the next. However, I can outline the general trends with a decent amount of confidence. Firstly, it’s going to stay unsettled, due to a succession of low-pressure systems spinning from the Atlantic into the UK and then into France. Each of these windy weather systems will be laden with showers and weather-fronts, but they will be punctuated by brief breathers, when the clouds clear and the winds fall light. As for the temperature... It’s looking much milder than the December average from Monday through to Wednesday (this is due to the winds being predominantly S’ly or SW’ly). Then on Thursday and Friday (Christmas eve and Christmas Day), a change of wind to a NW’ly or N’ly direction, will take the temperature back down to the seasonal norm.
Surf and the Water
With all that wind in the nearby Atlantic, we can be sure that the waves will be about as big as they have been though this week. The tides will be very different though... much much smaller, with the times of high water just bumping forward a little each day (starting at 11am on Monday and finishing at 3:10pm on Christmas Day).
The next forecast update will be on Saturday Morning…
Previous Weather Fox ForecastsTide Tables
Swim Conditions
Ormering
Lihou Causeway